What's next for Lorch?

Just a few weeks ago, Thembinkosi Lorch was dazzling opponents at the FIFA Club World Cup with Moroccan giants Wydad Casablanca, and now he is back in South Africa, believed to be training on his own, despite the impact he made while he was away on loan.

- Tshepang Mailwane

With a few weeks left before the close of the domestic transfer window, the Free State-born winger is expected to be a hot topic with a big possibility of him leaving the Betway Premiership to start a new chapter elsewhere. The big question, however, is whether Lorch will leave on loan again or permanently this time. Soccer Laduma's Tshepang Mailwane looks at what the options are for the 32-year-old popularly known as “Nyoso”.

Thembinkosi Lorch's journey at Mamelodi Sundowns has been far from great. A move that was meant to take his career to the next level turned out to be a bit of a nightmare. The only thing Lorch would probably be happy to talk about was finally winning a league title, lifting the trophy just a few months after joining the Tshwane giants in 2023/24.

The rest, however, has been a time beleaguered by injury and lack of game time. He came during Rhulani Mokwena's tenure and had hopes of getting game time regularly, but the coach's departure changed everything. At the time Manqoba Mngqithi took over, Lorch was still recovering from injury and there were other players performing well. He did not get much of an opportunity to play, even when Miguel Cardoso joined the club, so the best thing was to ask to leave.

In January, Cardoso revealed to the media why Lorch left the club on loan to join Wydad Casablanca, who were coached by Mokwena.

"Regarding Lorch, as you might have imagined, he was not happy here. It's important that the players be happy. We cannot sustain players that are not in the environment where they feel they can perform. Sometimes, it's very important to give them air. They need to breathe so that they can express themselves and also have the game time because they need to play," Cardoso said at the time.

"Lorch is not a young player and in the last (few) years, he hasn't played that much. So, it was important to let him go."